Krom wrote:I think tanking is by far one of the funnest and most challenging things you can do in WoW. You also get to be the center of attention all the time, which is great too. It's always nice to be important on raids!

I agree. It's hard, and to do it well, you need cooperation from everyone, but when they give you that time to get aggro before DPSing the second target in the kill sequence and then frost nova-ing the ranged mob you're trying to bring into melee range... well then it's fun. You have to work really hard to keep those DPSers off your boss, and you know, you can do something they can't.

Sure soloing sucks, but group play is much more fun than solo grinding and as a prot warrior you are able to survive bosses at a lower level of gear than any other tank. Meaning you can dive in fast. I was uncrittable within 2 hours play of 70. Would have been 1 hour, but I had to get those last 5 defense skillups...

Of course that's my alt, I'm a DPSing lock at heart, but prot is fun.

protip: Don't spec pure prot for endgame if you're not at the level cap.
protip2: I'm presently a 19/5/37 hybrid and I love it. It's a little weak against non bleeders but it's good. 5/5 one handed style, dual weilding with imp overpower and deep wounds and the extra crit and impale means respectable damage and improved thunderclap does 80% of the work tanking several mobs at once. I specced that from 65 because my warrior tanked most of the way up. But I did that as 0/x/13 fury specced. ie I tanked BRD at 55 with such a spec...

Summary: if you're not a tank yet, don't spec prot. If you are a tank, then tank and try it. Speccing prot and soloing is like taking tailoring but vending your cloth.

For reference, I leveled from 60-70 as full protection. I did around 45% instance runs, and the other 55% solo'ing quests. Prot spec allows you to do some things you really shouldn't be able to. For example, I was doing Shattered Halls at 67 (mobs are level 69-72 for reference), and effectively tanking it (thanks 6 piece T3!). I also solo'd all of the 3 man elite quests in Zangarmarsh, something I never would've been able to do as a DPS spec.

My warrior is now purely DPS after not playing it for 10 months or so and my gear is really terrible, but I still miss tanking. I just don't have the time / devote enough time to playing my warrior to get respectable gear.

Suztang wrote:well im getting the hang of tanking now. went questing with daddy-in-law (64 pally) and after tweaking my stance at the right time itz alot easier.

charge (battle stance)then switch back to def stance and if i aggro to much...retaliation and challenging shout (battle stance)then back to def stance.

its timing really

Sometimes a gun pull and LOS works better.

If you don't know how to "line of sight" things, look it up, it's vital for casters. The charge pull is great. If you do it right you can switch before the charge arrives.

If tanking multiple mobs, if your group lets you position things, then drag the enemy away from the sheep saps, etc and use thunderclap often, especially if imp TC is maxed. It WILL do a lot of the work for you. In prolonged pulls. If your group let yopu position and build hate on everything before nuking, you're less likely to have to put threat on one target before everything is sealed off the healer too... a tank's job is very much influenced by his group.

Prot warriors are powerful, just slow. My guildies prot tanks can take level 71 mobs with def stance and a sheild and just block all their attacks, literally not getting hurt, the cost? it takes 45-60 seconds for a kill. Prot paladins however, with the sporeggar rep sheild and enough HP are evil. Like, pull 20 blood elves from the black temple area and solo them evil.

i really wanted to use mace and shield but after doin a little research swords are faster so ive decided to do sword and shield the issue i have now is what enchant do i want to put on it? my guild said pick one and they will help me farm it, so ive wanted lifestealing or crusader but the reduced effect for lvl 60 and above thing worries me a little. and i saw battlemaster (awsome) but the drop rate for it is.....well lets just say its gayer then two boys playin docter in grampas shed

fiery is my if all else fails choice but i dont know i think i could do much better than that. imo i always thought icy chill was the best tank enchant.

I wouldn't put too much stock in it pre-70 to be honest. The best way to go is to pick up a tank sword from either Heroic Mechanar or Karazhan at level 70 if you're just starting out. There are two enchants to choose from, really. Agility was, for a time, the de facto tanking weapon enchant (at 60). It gave dodge, crit and a miniscule amount of AC.

Now you have two options at level 70 (well, 3). Executioner, Mongoose or Battlemaster. Executioner is not bad for threat (armor penetration!), and Battlemaster can be ok for threat on a fight with alot of AE damage (healing threat on top of normal threat) but is generally not worth it and people may mock you for getting it. I personally prefer mongoose since it has quite good up time, increases your crit, dodge and armor by a non trivial amount AND increases your swing speed, which either generates additional rage or increases your total heroic strike output. Mongoose is by far the best mitigation enchant imo.

If you're enchanting a weapon that you will be throwing away in short order, I wouldn't bother with enchanting it, however. I guess it depends on how fast you level, but usually the cost of enchanting will far outway the potential benefits of the enchant for the very short time you will be using it as you level.